


Priorities

by athenril_of_kirkwall (al_fletcher)



Series: Hudson Hawke [2]
Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age II, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Angst, Breast Play, Dragon Age Drunk Writing Circle, Dragon Age II - Act 1, F/M, Power Imbalance, Prompt Fic, Romance, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-12
Updated: 2019-01-12
Packaged: 2019-10-08 17:03:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17390234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/al_fletcher/pseuds/athenril_of_kirkwall
Summary: Hawke and Athenril are employees with benefits. Is that all they are, though?





	Priorities

**Author's Note:**

> Fill for m!Hawke/Athenril, "I never want you to think you’re anything less than my top priority."

Hawke tried to turn over, but couldn’t.

A pair of slender but strong hands were holding him fast, and they slid up and down his side and his neck as their owner also came to.

“Good,” Athenril said, “you’re awake.”

She released him, and he turned over under the sheets to face her.

“Morning to you too.”

Athenril scooted up the headboard, letting the blanket drop to her waist, exposing her chest to the cool morning air. Hawke rolled over, gently nuzzling her nipple, feeling her shudder against him as his beard tickled her breast. Smirking, she ran her slim fingers through his rough hair, stroking his head.

“My, you’re frisky today,” she remarked.

Releasing her breast with a gentle bit of suction, and giving it one last lick, Hawke looked up at his employer. “I live to serve, messere.”

“I know that.”

“I don’t think this is in my contract, ’Thenni.”

Athenril laughed. “I don’t run the Blooming Rose, Hawke.”

“Still…”

She looked down. “What are you thinking?”

“I believe this is the first time I’ve actually stayed the night. What will the rest think?”

“The rest?” Athenril asked. “They know their place, and now they’ll know yours. It’s no great secret, you know. I’ve got Tomwise wrapped around my little finger, and unless you’ve been fooling around with Elegant…”

“Perish the thought,” Hawke said, shuddering.

“Then we’re all understood. You’re my number one guy, Hawke.”

Hawke drew himself up to her, both leaning against the headboard in the rude apartment in Athenril’s Lowtown headquarters.

“Would I be here if I wasn’t?”

She turned to him sharply. “No.”

“Oh,” Hawke said, unable to keep the disappointment from his voice.

“Look,” Athenril said, staring ahead, “You get the job done, and you’ve never disappointed me.  But let’s face it, you wouldn’t _bear_ to think of rubbing shoulders with me if it hadn’t been for your pressing situation with your uncle and his debts.”

Hawke was silent.

“People in our line of work…we don’t get to form attachments, Hawke. I’ve got you around for the rest of the year, I’ve noticed the looks you give me, and if I _have_ to have someone overnight, it might as well be someone I trust.”

“ _And_ someone who doesn’t disappoint you.”

Athenril gave him a gentle, admonishing, tap on the shoulder. “Don’t get cocky, Hawke.”

He couldn’t resist grinning even as she climbed out of bed, showing him her bare behind as she bent over her footlocker, getting her trousers and footwraps out, sitting on the corner chair whilst unspooling the smooth samite. Hawke reached over the bedstead to find his clothes, shuffling over to the edge of the bed to get dressed himself.

“Hawke,” she said, breaking the silence whilst winding the wraps around her calf, “you don’t want to bring _feelings_ into this, do you?”

The words hung in the air as he turned to her, seemingly for an eternity.

“No,” he replied, “I guess not.”

“Good,” Athenril said, nodding. “I’d hate to get a Coterie letter ransoming you on _that_ basis. It’d be so mushy I wouldn’t know what to do with it.”

“Are you saying you’d leave me high and dry?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Hawke. _Of course_ I’d come get you. That little sister of yours would bawl her eyes out if I didn’t.”

“Glad to know you care. She doesn’t care for you all that much, I hate to admit.”

Athenril shrugged. “Lots of people don’t. I don’t make a habit of caring one way or the other. I make an effort to look after my people, though. And you…”

“Me?”

“You’re my number one priority, Hawke. I don’t want you to ever think otherwise.”

Hawke smiled, shrugging to get his shirt on properly. “Good to know.”

Athenril turned around, showing Hawke where the clasps on her armour went. Understanding instantly, Hawke stood up to help her thread each of the leather tongues through the necessary loops. The august-ram leather tabard is a complex piece of work, but it’s saved her life more times than she can count; all those clasps pull together plates of boiled leather which keep bolts and daggers out as well as ironbark would, with the gaps in between connected with just enough chainmail to seal the gaps.

It’s a unique work of art, and Hawke took his time pulling it around her slender frame, admiring it from each possible angle, gently kissing her on the side of her neck, his beard brushing against her skin once again as he withdrew.

“Right,” she said. “To work then, Hawke. I believe we’ve got a rendezvous at Sundermount tonight. Some of the elves are getting enterprising, I hear.”

“Right behind you, ma’am”, Hawke said, getting his daggers out from under the bed.

Athenril led the way, preparing to address the rest of her crew. Hawke followed behind, his placid demeanour masking a small storm of unresolved feelings and confused emotions. He gave the calendar pinned to the side wall a passing glance, calculating how much longer he had to figure it out before…well, before it was all over.

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr: https://athenril-of-kirkwall.tumblr.com/post/181944200390/


End file.
